This course is the first of a series that aims to prepare you for a role as an entry-level IT Support Specialist. In this course, you’ll be introduced to the world of Information Technology, or IT. You’ll learn about the different facets of Information Technology, like computer hardware, the Internet, computer software, troubleshooting, and customer service. This course covers a wide variety of topics in IT that are designed to give you an overview of what’s to come in this certificate program.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
● understand how the binary system works.
● assemble a computer from scratch.
● choose and install an operating system on a computer.
● understand what the Internet is, how it works, and the impact it has in the modern world.
● learn how applications are created and how they work under the hood of a computer.
● utilize common problem-solving methodologies and soft skills in an Information Technology setting.

AL

Great course for beginners and experts. Easy to understand and a good refresher for those who have been into IT for a long date. Recommend it to everyone looking for a high quality course on coursera.

FK

Mar 10, 2018

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

An excellent introductory course. The all around material was well presented, the instructors are doing a great job passing on their knowledge. The weekly assignments were interesting and fun to take.

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Software

In the fifth week of this course, we'll learn about computer software. We'll learn about what software actually is and the different types of software you may encounter as an IT Support Specialist. We'll also explore how to manage software and revisit the concept of "abstraction." By the end of this module, you'll use the Qwiklabs environment to install, update and remove software on both Windows and Linux operating systems.

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Programs, software, and applications, are terms that are synonymous with each other. For now we'll go ahead and use the term software to refer to any of these. We've already had a rundown of the different types of software. There are certain types of software that perform specific functions, like drivers, which allow us to interact with our hardware. There are applications that we use for our day to day job functions. And there are utilities that we use like a calculator, settings, and other tools. With the seemingly endless options for software, how do we know which ones to use? How do we deal with them in a workplace setting and in our personal lives? Software is always changing. Developers are releasing updates, software companies change, features are added, and so on. This constant change is completely out of our control and it can cause a lot of headaches in the IT world. Let's say the company that builds your payroll system pushes out a software update that causes settings to change or even worse completely breaks the compatibility with your own company. It can happen. You should always test new software before letting your company use it. Another thing to worry about is old software. When you run old software on your machine, you risk being exposed to cyber security attacks that take advantage of software bugs. A software bug is an error in software that causes unexpected results. We'll deep dive into computer security in a later course. For now, know that software updates usually contain critical security updates and new features, and have better compatibility with your system. A good guideline is to update your software constantly. Another problem that plagues the IT world when it comes to software is software management. If you're setting up a computer for someone, you want to make sure that they'll have all the necessary tools they need to hit the ground running. That means you'll need to install all the software required for the job. That also means you'll also want to remove software that isn't required for the job. We may not realize if a piece of software we installed is malicious software which causes harm to your computer. It's always a good idea to check if the software comes from a repudible source before you install it. A common industry practice is to not allow users to install software without administrator approval. This prevents users from installing unwanted software because they're actually blocked with an error message that says they need an administrator to enter their login credentials. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's cover the basics of software management which include installing, updating, and removing software. In the videos up next, we're going to walk through how to do these steps in a Windows environment and a Linux environment. Ready, set, go.